‘Long is the way. And hard, that out of Hell leads up to Light’

By Richard Clark / Jacksonville Daily News

Published: Saturday, January 26, 2013 at 08:42 PM.

This is the crux of the entire problem.

His admittance of performance-enhancing drugs is, after all, after the fact. Oh sure, they will strip his “this” and take back his “that,” but if we are truly being honest with ourselves, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter to the guy that finished second at one of Armstrong’s six Tour De France wins, but will never get his day in the sun. It doesn’t matter to advertisers that gave millions of dollars to Armstrong in hopes of turning our hero worship into their profits. And it doesn’t matter to the fans that spent their hard-earned money to watch, support and cheer on Armstrong.

It’s all water under the bridge or, in this case, muddy water under the bridge. We cannot get it back. We wish we could, but we can not.

This is the problem. Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that Armstrong’s goal in life was to never have to work or have a “real” job other than ride a bike. Is he a success? Sure he is. What if his only goal was to get extremely wealthy riding a bike? Is he a success? Yup. What if his goal in life was to be paraded in front of adoring fans while hoisting some sort of championship trophy? Is he a success? Most definitely.

At the end of the day, unless we can figure out a way to reclaim all of our rewards, beside personal respect, that we bestow on our “heroes” then we will continue to see this kind of misguided path over and over again.

Sports is simply a microcosm of life. As a society, we have shown time and time again that the means do not necessarily justify the ends. We have created a culture of shortcut takers. From the Bernie Madoff/Enron business world to the highly polluted world of politics, we have left no societal stone unturned in our efforts to do things improperly.

Today, the name conjures up a little bit different image than, say, five or six years ago. I’m not sure what your image of Armstrong was, is or will be, but I do know it has probably changed.

It is sad to say that with the vast rewards, financially as well as fame, that the sports world now bestows on its heroes, we once again, see a so-called champion turned into a punch line.

Personally, I could care less. If someone wants to do all of that stuff to get an “edge,” then so be it. Like anything else, it comes with its own set of liabilities. Steroids, or the like, are not what they used to be. The do not work like most of us remember. The days of the East German women’s swim team striding out and resembling an offensive line are over. Blood doping, blood boosters such as EPO and blood masking agents have changed the game completely.

The truth is, we will not know most of the time if an athlete is clean or not. Testing will ALWAYS be a step behind. Always. And when you couple that with the incredible rewards for success, frankly, I’m surprised we don’t see more of it.

Take our fallen hero Armstrong. I listen to pundits, so-called experts and talking heads drone on about “what a bad guy Armstrong is” (where were all of these people before), “how Armstrong has ruined himself” and “how Armstrong has tainted his destroyed life and the sport.”

To all of these people I say … poo. That’s right poo. What has Armstrong really done? Ok, ok … he has hurt his reputation. There is no question about that. However, think about it on the big scale — what else has he really done? To my knowledge, Armstrong will still wake up incredibly rich in his incredibly expensive mansion and go get in his ridiculously expensive automobile and go about his daily activities.

This is the crux of the entire problem.

His admittance of performance-enhancing drugs is, after all, after the fact. Oh sure, they will strip his “this” and take back his “that,” but if we are truly being honest with ourselves, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter to the guy that finished second at one of Armstrong’s six Tour De France wins, but will never get his day in the sun. It doesn’t matter to advertisers that gave millions of dollars to Armstrong in hopes of turning our hero worship into their profits. And it doesn’t matter to the fans that spent their hard-earned money to watch, support and cheer on Armstrong.

It’s all water under the bridge or, in this case, muddy water under the bridge. We cannot get it back. We wish we could, but we can not.

This is the problem. Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that Armstrong’s goal in life was to never have to work or have a “real” job other than ride a bike. Is he a success? Sure he is. What if his only goal was to get extremely wealthy riding a bike? Is he a success? Yup. What if his goal in life was to be paraded in front of adoring fans while hoisting some sort of championship trophy? Is he a success? Most definitely.

At the end of the day, unless we can figure out a way to reclaim all of our rewards, beside personal respect, that we bestow on our “heroes” then we will continue to see this kind of misguided path over and over again.

Sports is simply a microcosm of life. As a society, we have shown time and time again that the means do not necessarily justify the ends. We have created a culture of shortcut takers. From the Bernie Madoff/Enron business world to the highly polluted world of politics, we have left no societal stone unturned in our efforts to do things improperly.

Long is the way. And hard, that out of Hell leads up to Light.

We have forgotten or maybe we have placed far too little emphasis on hard work and doing things the right way. Currently in our society, the path of hard work is often ignored by those in a position to reward it and omitted by those attempting to receive such accolades.

Hard work just doesn’t seem to result in the same rewards as it did in the past. Maybe, it’s always been this way. I hope not. For those teaching their children to work hard and do things the right way, I applaud you.

Life isn’t supposed to be easy. However, it often piles on by showing us the treasures reaped on so many that are undeserving. Do I care that athlete gets millions of dollars because he can put a ball in a hoop better than myself? Nope. Do I care that an actor gets truck loads of fame and gold because he or she can do something that I could never in a million years do? No way, I would be way too scared to do that stuff.

However, it appalls me when shorts are taken. I think Madoff or any other Wall Street guy that swindled people’s life savings should have to walk just one mile on a road with no body guards lined with all of those he ripped off. I think Armstrong should have his bank account raided by the Feds and all of the money distributed to children’s sports programs across the country.

Think about that for a moment. If an athlete knew that his money would be confiscated, do you think they would risk taking steroids in the future?

Long is the way. And hard, that out of Hell leads up to Light.

Or at least it should.

Richard Clark is the universal desk chief for Halifax Communications ENC. You can reach him at 910-219-8452 or at Richard.Clark@jdnews.com.